WUHAN — Central China's Hubei province on May 20 started construction of an 800-bed base for prevention, control, and treatment of major epidemics in the future.

The base, designed for infectious disease treatment, is located at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in the provincial capital of Wuhan. It is expected to be built in three years.

The provincial base for major epidemics prevention, control and treatment is a 16-story building with a floor area of more than 120,000 square meters.

The base is being built in response to the central authorities' order to improve the country's public health emergency management system as well as the ability to deal with major public health emergencies, said Wang Xinghuan, head of the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University.

The base will be a high-grade hospital for the public in normal times but serve for the centralized treatment of infectious diseases during major epidemics.